Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam (Teacher)

This is a churchy post. And there's probably too much context for me to give anyone who's not familiar with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Be ye warned.

Back in January our ward boundaries were rearranged, and we became a brand new ward. The boundaries consist of two separate neighborhoods rather than one continuous area. I knew my immediate subdivision because we had been together in the previous ward, but half the ward was unfamiliar. And we had just been in our previous ward for 18 months or so, in a new state with no family around, so it was another adjustment period.

For a couple of months I had no calling in the new ward, so I felt a little lost. I had never felt that way before in a ward, but I really wanted some sort of responsibility.

As is often the case, I think they were struggling to get enough teachers called to the primary. By the time I was called in for an interview a couple months after the ward formed, I had a pretty strong sense that a primary calling was headed my way.

Sure enough, I was called to teach the sunbeams. As anyone in the Church of Jesus Christ knows, the sunbeams have a reputation. As three- and four-year olds, they are incredibly energetic, have short attention spans, and require a ton of engagement. That being said, I knew Clara was a sunbeam this year, and I of course accepted the calling.

I had never taught primary before, except once or twice as a substitute. So this was a new experience for me. In a lot of ways it went as I expected, with fun times and "pull my hair out" times. I didn't expect to feel like I'm part of an organization (the primary as a whole) that is pretty cohesive and with a presidency that is supportive and thoughtful. And while I generally get a kick out of kids around 2 to 5, I didn't expect that I'd love the little monsters as much as I do.

I'm going to be sad when our kids move up and we get a new crop fresh out of nursery in January. I keep reminding myself that it's only for an hour, which I think will make things a little easier.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I had an onion tied to my belt, which was the style at the time. Now, you couldn't get white onions because of the war; all you could get...

Do you ever get stuck in a conversation that you can’t get out of? I’m not talking about those times when you have to be somewhere else or there’s a rational need to leave, but rather those times when, with every word the other person utters (it’s typically just a two-person conversation), your brain threatens to escape your body and make a break for it. All you can do is try to play some old TV theme songs in your head, or maybe design circuits if you’re the engineering type, all the while searching for an opportunity to escape. Now I’m boring myself just thinking about those situations.
Read more

Thirty Thoughts

1. Is that more hair in the shower drain every morning? 2. What's the big deal? It's just a number with a zero at the end. Why should we consider that significant? 3. Am I still allowed to wear shorts? 4. I need to buy a house within the next five years or we won't have it paid off by retirement age. Then again, my generation won't be able to retire until age 80, so I shouldn't worry. 5. I really should be eating more green, leafy vegetables. If I leave potatoes in the fridge long enough, will that count? 6. Going back to school is getting less and less likely. Then again, sending kids to school will be enough trauma. 7. At least I no longer look like I'm 12, which I did until I was about 23. 8. I will never wear my cell phone on my belt. 9. For some reason, there's a big difference between having a kid and having kid s . 10. You kids get off the lawn! 11. I wonder when my memory will start to go. 12. Inside of me beats the heart of an 18-year-old. At leas...
Read more

Moral Compass

On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 1 being “afraid to step on a blade of grass” and 10 being “I’m gonna kill everyone!”), how bad is it if I were to warm up my car in the morning for 10 minutes before coming to work?
Read more